Garmin inReach Mini Orange (010-01879-00)

Johnny Appleseed sent the product very quickly, which is great. Garmin service Australia is difficult to work with. I tried to activate my product, and it took a couple of days to go through. Since my hike had long finished, I asked for a refund. They initially refused, because their overseas head office did not give them permission to return money. It took a while to get a refund, and when it came through I was made to feel like this was a massive favour, and not something that I am entitled to. You should be aware that the price does not include a compulsory "activation charge" levied by Garmin, which in 2020 was around $37. Also there is an 'inactive' charge of around $30 a year which is payable even if the device is not used..

Love it. Does exactly what it says. Works with minimal fuss and effort (set and forget). Small, light. Almost unnoticeable and a significant emergency insurance. Only drawback: battery life in real life is not as advertised. This is mostly because you will not always have a free view of the sky and trying to maintain a satellite connection will thus cost more energy than under optimal conditions. With 10 min track intervals and completely free view of the sky (on the water), battery goes from 100 to 75% in 8 hours. This is as advertised; but in a forest, it drains significantly faster; in my experience at more than twice this speed. If you want it mainly for emergency leave it switched off, only switch on to send messages, and you won't have any trouble with battery life. The Earthmate app and the Garmin InReach web site could use some polishing and refinement but are fully functional. For any normal messaging you will want to pair it with a smartphone, but in an emergency, you can message without this as well. Brilliant device.

I’m so glad I purchased the GARMIN InReach Mini. I do a lot of of work in remote areas of some problematic countries. The small size, easily concealable, GPS coverage and the ability to make/take texts gives me great confidence when travelling.

Highly recommend this as something to clip onto your rucksack while riding just in case of an emergency. It is pretty easy to get out of cellular range and this could come in real handy. The device is extremely small and lightweight for it's function. Minor thing is that I wish the battery life was a bit longer however it can charge off the bike so isn't a big deal. It lasts about two days if you leave it on continuously tethered via BT to a phone.

I was surprised at how easy the device was to set up and how easy it is to use. I found the operating system and phone apps to be very intuitive. Even texting using the device is quite easy. All of our messages were sent within a few minutes and it registered all responses from our recipients. It tells you if the signal is not good due to trees or other obstructions. We are very pleased with our purchase and will now take it on every hike and long distance mountain bike ride.